Rail sawing and drilling apparatus



Nov. 14, 1933. J. A. McGREW 1,934,990

RAIL SAWING AND DRILLING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 w QC SEQ H g I B AW a R J m 0 9w o o $4 W/ wmw m A A A A o QM g A \N \N M. mm \M. .9 f \N MN \m.

Nov. 14, 1933. J. A. M GREW RAIL SAWING AND DRILLING APPARATUS Original Filed Feb. 1931 Patented Nov, 14, 1933 p John A. McGrew, Albany, N. Y. Q Original application February 19, 1931', SeriaINO.

517,056. Divided and this application September 22,1931. Serial No.- 564,444j I 1 eclaims. (on. 29-33) The present :invention relates to machines for cutting and drilling rails.

In'my application Serial no. slmosoj-fil eld February 19, 1931, Of'LWhiCHthE presentapplica- 5 tion is a division, is disclosed and claimed a novel method of severing rails s and shaping the ends thereof. The present invention relates particularly to a machine for carrying out practically, quickly, and economically the method'set forth NJ in thepatent'appli'cation referred to.

It has-heretofore been proposed that the ends of railroad rails may advantageously be cut or shapedrin suchmanner that the parallel, mutual-V.

1y facing. surfaces-of the abutting ends of such III rails, after they are assembled in a track structure, extend diagonally. relatively to the rail axes rather than transversely thereto, that is, so that the parallel'upper edges of the trea'd surfaces of abutting rail ends'are-oblique to the direction U' of travelof the wheels rather thantransverse,

'as is customary; By virtue of such a construction, the wheels of ,cars passing along the track are prevented from pounding upon the rail ends as the'y pass over the joints) thus promoting "85 noiselessness of travel v and prolonging the life ofthe road bed.; It :has been found in actual practice that by-severing the heads of the rails along: planes which are not normal or'trans verse to the rail axes,so 'that the abutting edges 80 of the rail headsare not transverse tothe direc-' tion of travel of thewheels'over:thesame'the life'of the rails has beenconsiderablyprolonged;

Heretofore likewise it has been suggested that it-may be advantageous to so shape each rail end 88 that the end surface of its head portion is ldisposed in a transverse vertical plane which makes an angle to the rail axis'while the end surface of the base 'portion is disposed' in a vertic'alnplane transverse to this axis; the result being that'pres-- a) sure of one rail-against the end of anladjacent' rail,;whic'h may develop-from any cause, does not result in lateral displacement of the rail ends, this longitudinally exerted force or pressure besurfaces which are normal to the direction o'fithe line, of pressure,'alltendenoy of the rails to wedge out or laterally displace themselves being thereby obviated. l p,

Notwithstanding that the advantages of a track structure built up of. rails i having their ends formed in this manner have been repeatedly suggested, suchtrack structures havenot come into usage. This has been largely because of :the

'55 difliculties met withinrdevising a means for adends in thedesired manner.

ing transmitted from one rail to theother across vantageously and at small cost cutting the rail In accordance with the present invention, an apparatus is provided by-means of which a rail end may be quickly shaped in the manner indi-" J cated above and at only-slight expense additional to that now met with in'merely severing the rail ends along a transverse plane. at right angles to the axis." 1 f V T Inasmuchas the head of the rail is to be severed along a plane which makes an angle with the planealong which the base of the rail is severed,

I preferably provide twosaws,;disposedin planes which make an angle to each othergand'also furnish mechanism for causing-these saws to simultaneously approach the rails in opposite directions, one approaching the:head of "the rail and the'other the base .of therail. I also provide means which, as apreliminary step, removes a portionrof: the web of the rail, preferably toward the center-or neutralaxis thereof, and the opposed saws-are causedto advance :from the-sides of the .rail until their cutting edges enter this central aperture, thus completely severing one portioni'of the, rail from'fanotherp The means for s6 removing a portion of the center of the rail web may; vary, but I;have found, it. particularly desirable to employ. a drill for performing this function inasmuch as the drill in its operation may form acylindrical aperture in the rail web .0135"- considerable size, yet quite quickly andat small expense. 1 V c V The apparatus suggested above and hereinafter particularly described may be considerably varied to suit rails of different shapes and char- 9o? V acteristicaand it will be, understoodthat that form of the inventionwhich is illustratedin the accompanying drawings is set forth by way of example only.

lnthedrawingsz i Figured-is a planview of a railsawingand drilling apparatus embodying the features of the invention; P i r Figure-2 isa side elevation of thesame; Figure 3 is a front elevation; and Figures 4, 5, and 6, respectively, illustrate, 'in

plan, side elevation and end elevation portions of a railroad rail, the endof which has been shaped in the manner suggested. l

The rail cutting machine comprises essentially three major portions, one portion generally indicated at 10 .by means of which, as a preliminarystep, some portion of the web of the rail is removed. (andadditional apertures formed in the railweb. if desired),a sawing mechanism generspeed.

" disposed at an angle to the horizontal. can .be advanced toward the rail or retract-ed by ally indicated at 11 and by means. of which the base portion of the rail is severed, and also the adjacent web portion up to the aperture already formed, along a line transverse 'to the rail axis, and a second sawing mechanism'generally indicated at 12 designed and constructed to sever the head of the rail and that portion'of the web between the head and the preformed aperture, along a plane oblique to the rail axis) These three mechanisms may be intimately associatedinsoi'ar as mounting and energization are concerned, or I may, as Isuggest in the accompanying drawings, form them separately, actuate them from separate power sources, and control them,

separately.

In the drawings the frame-of adrill press of the vertical type is indicated at 13, and this frame is provided with a horizontal table or work rest 14 upon which a rail may be laid, as indicated at 15. The rail is placed on its side with its end positioned intermediate the two sawing devices and is clamped in this position by means of a clamp indicated. generally at 16. This clamp rigidly cone fines the rail in the positionshown and comprises a threaded member 18 which may be ad'- vanced. or retracted by rotation of a hand lever 19. A stationary rail base engaging abutment is indicated at 20, and a stop to enable the operator to accurately position the rail longitudinallyofthe machine is indicated at 21- Mounted. upon the frame 13 of the drill press is.

a slide 22 carrying spindles 23, and in-each of these spindles, which. are disposed in parallel relationship, is mounted a drill bit 24. The slide 22 may be raised or lowered under the close control of an operator by any suitable means well-known in the art, and the spindles 23 may be driven from any suitable source of power, the details of the drill press,.insofar as its actual construction and mode of operation are concerned, being susceptible of wide variation without departure fromthe invention. 'When a rail is positioned as shown in the. drawings, and the slide 22. is lowered with the spindles rotating, the drill bitSiZlr form two cylin drical apertures in the rail'web at approximately the neutral axis of the rail.

The saw mechanism 11 comprises essentially-a stationary base 30 which comprises a rest or guide for the sliding saw carriage 31".

the railas desired, by rotating afeed screw '32 which is driven by an electric motor 33 to which it belt 39 operatively connecting the two pulleys.

By a suitable control mechanism, not shown, the saw maybe caused torotate at the-desired,

The sawmechanism 12 comprises essentially a base 40 which comprises a support or rest for a slide 41. which is generally similar to slide 31 of the companion sawing mechanism but which is Thisslide means of'a feed screw 42 driven from a reversible electric motor 43 by means of gearing housed within a guard or casing 4. Mounted upon the upper surface ofthexinclined slide is a circular v y This carriage is: caused to move on" its guide, toward or away from of a belt 4'7, with a. pulley 48 mounted on or connected to the shaft of an electric motor 49. Saw may, therefore, be revolved at thedesired speed by the motor. 7

, In carrying out the improved method, a rail is first placed in the machine so as to occupy the position in which it is shown in the drawings. The slide 22 of the drill press is then lowered and two cylindrical apertures formed in the rail web. One of these apertures, indicated at 50 in Figure 4-, is located at a point rather remote from the rail end and is designed and intended to receive the shank of a bolt when the rail is placed in a track structure. The second aperture, which is closely. adjacent the rail end, lies directly between the saws 35 and 45; that is,rt is intersected bya horizontal line lying in the plane of botlrsaws.

Either during the time that the drilling operation is being performed or immediately thereafter, the two slides 31. and 41 are caused to move toward the rail lying between them and the saws caused to 'severthe base and headof'the rail,. respec-' tively, advancement of both saws continuing until they have reached the cylindrical aperture intermediate them, which has previously been formed in the rail web. At this point the motions of the saws are halted so .that they do not'come in contact with each other. .The drillingoperationrequires less time to complete than does the sawing, and it is therefore possible to initiate the movements of the drills andsaws simultaneously without danger of the saws striking the drill. A small portion of the end of the rail is thus severed fromthe main portion, and the railend. presents two difierent end facesobliqueto each other, a lower face indicated at extending from the bottom of the rail up to a semi-circular aperture 56 and'a second, face 5'1 extending from the rail tread down to thisaperture 56, the-surface 55 being exactly transverse to the rail axis and the surface 57 being vertical but inclined to the rail axis. In this condition the rail is finished and ready for. assembly in a track structure; provided, of course, that its oppositeend has been similarlyshaped.

operation is very quickly performed, and

the expense involved is only slightly greater than that involved in making a simple transverse cut as is now commonly practiced. As a result of the use of rails having their ends cut as shown in Figures 4 and '5, howev'en-the riding qualities of the resulting track structure are greatly improved, and furthermore the length of life of the track structure is greatly increased, the rail ends not beingsubjected to the pounding of the wheels as: they pass over the joints, which in most cases has been the most active destructive agency tending to destroy the rails.

The details of construction of the drill press and sawing mechanisms may be varied to suit operating conditions.

'Ha'vingfthus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent. is:- 1

1. Apparatus for cutting and shaping'rail ends comprising means for holding a rail, means for forming an aperture in the rail web, a saw for cutting the rail head and web up to and intersecting said aperture, in a plane oblique to the rail axis, and a saw for cutting the rail base andplane normal .to the axis of the rail.

2. Apparatus for cutting and shaping rail ends comprising means for holding a rail, means for drilling a cylindrical hole transversely through the web of the rail, a saw for cutting the rail head-and web up to and intersecting said hole,

in a plane oblique to the rail axis, and a saw for cutting the rail base and web up to and intersecting said hole, in a plane normal to the axis of the rail. 7 r

3. pparatus for cutting and shaping rail ends comprising, in combination, means for holding a rail, two saws positioned respectively on'opposite sides of the rail and movable toward the rail, one saw being disposed at an angle to the other,

and means for forming an aperture in the rail web, which aperture lies in the path of movement of both saws. V V

4. Apparatusfor cutting and shaping rail ends comprising meansfor holding a rail, means for simultaneously drilling two cylindrical apertures in the rail web; said apertures being spaced from each other longitudinally of the rail, 2. saw disposed to cut the rail head and web up to and intersecting one of said apertures, in a plane oblique to the railaxis, a saw for cutting the rail base and web up to and intersecting this same aperture, and means for advancing and retracting;

said saws.

JOHN A. MCGREW. 7 

